Deke Kaufman

R. O. "Deke" Kaufman, Jr., 73, of Ponte Vedra Beach, passed away peacefully on October 26, 2017.  He was born August 29, 1944 in Hartford, CT, the son of the late Ralph O Kaufman, Sr. and Edna Davis Kaufman.  He was given the nickname “Deke” on the day he was born. Raised in Manchester, CT and Titusville, PA, Deke graduated from Titusville High School, received a BA from Thiel College in Greenville, PA and an MBA from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

Deke spent most of his career with IBM, affording him many challenging and rewarding opportunities, including working at the Asia Pacific Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and as a Branch Manager in Hong Kong.  Later in his career he started a consulting practice for IBM in Philadelphia which became part of the IBM Consulting Group.

Deke and his wife Nancy retired to Sawgrass Country Club and spent summers in the mountains of Killington, VT.  He valued these happy times spent with special friends, both old and new.

Deke is lovingly remembered for his generous and courageous spirit by Nancy, his wife of 50 years, his son Jeff, his daughter-in-law Kerry and two very special grandchildren, his M&M buddy Kayla and his sweet smiling Braden.  He is also survived by his sister-in-law Ann Kaufman, his Aunt Bev Inglis and many cousins, nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his brother, Bruce.

Deke was a member of Christ Episcopal Church, 400 San Juan Drive, Ponte Vedra Beach where his Memorial Service will be held on Monday, Nov 6th at 11:00am.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions in Deke’s memory be directed to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Northern & Central Florida Chapter, 3319 Maguire Blvd, Suite 101, Orlando, FL  32803 or the Titusville Alumni Association, 302 East Walnut Street, Titusville, Pa 16354-1998.